


A Forgiven Past and Bright Beginnings

by Lyria23



Category: Hannibal (TV), hannigram - Fandom
Genre: After the Fall, Cannabilism, Escape, Forgiveness, Hannibal Lecter Loves Will Graham, Intelligence - Freeform, Jack Crawford - Freeform, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Murder, Mutual Want, New Beginnings, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, The Past Is Forgiven, Will Graham Loves Hannibal Lecter, before the fall - Freeform, long story, minor changes in cannon events, slow burn but exciting and worth it, still in Maryland, wolf trap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:00:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27033838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyria23/pseuds/Lyria23
Summary: This is my own intermingling continuation of canon events beginning from when Hannibal pushes the cop out of the car in 'The Wrath of the Lamb' to after the fall and deeper beyond. This Fiction will be loyal to the canon storyline apart from a few deviations. The only purpose for that is to allow for my own ideas of what I would've liked to see and how I'd perhaps want it to continue to go on. I will be listing the changes in the cannon story line that happened before this fic at the beginning so there is no confusion and  for reference and then the rest will carry on out of my head. This will be different from any 'Hannibal TV' fic  that I have read so far and it'll be quite long. My intention is to maintain action and suspense and indulge our own Fannibal desires. I had an idea that I had to add into this post-fall and I'm actually liking it. The chapters will be released often and perhaps more than one at a time.Simple Summary: Will joins Hannibal in his escape. We finally get to hear the conversation they had on the drive to Hanni's safe house. We get more than an embrace before the fall- which was an intentional act. A safe escape and tons of adventure progress from there. More harmless Hannigram secrets revealed.
Relationships: Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this. I don’t expect all feedback to be positive, but any is appreciated♥️

A Fixed Past and Bright Beginnings

This fiction is canon-verse. There are events that I have changed up a bit. I only did it to fit a vision I have of how the story could have gone and how it could continue to go. I will list them and the transformed scenes here before the Fic so that certain things will be understood. If I miss anything or do not explain properly, I apologize.  
1).Will did not send the copy-cat (orderly Mathew Brown) to kill Hannibal. He was a fan of Will and Hannibal both because he believed Will that Hannibal was the Chesapeake Ripper and he tried to kill Hannibal of his own free will because he wanted to best him. Will told him if he went, Hannibal would kill him and he laughs in Will’s face. But because Hannibal hurt him and betrayed him, Will pretended to be the one who sent him. Hannibal later asks him about it in one of the season 2 episodes (in my universe) and Will tells him the truth: that he did not send the copycat. He just repeats it in this fic.  
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2\. Will did not purposefully hide the fact that Freddie Lounds was alive from Hannibal. He did not know she was alive. I imagine Alana and Jack manipulating his memories and mind to their advantage to use him for a plan to capture Hannibal. Alana used a form of memory modification and EMDR on him. They hid on the forest line of his property to observe what he was really doing on his free time at home etc. and what his loyalties were. They had a very strong suspicion that he was either playing both sides or was solely on Hannibal’s.   
Explanation: After Freddie discovered everything at Wolf Trap, the scene continues the same until after Will pulls Freddie from the car. Jack had managed to sneak behind him and effectively but carefully incapacitated him with a large branch. He then carried him inside his home at Wolf Trap. After ensuring that Will’s head wound was not serious, Alana began the “therapy” immediately. She knew there was really no time to waste; not with Will Graham. The memory modification and EDMR made him believe that he had choked Freddie until she passed out. He believed he had stabbed her through her chin and into her brain when she awoke so he could feel the power of control as he looked into her eyes, exsanguinated her and chopped her up neatly washing her meat and placing it all in his freezer. He melted all parts that could not be eaten in hydrofluoric acid and discarded the remains of that all over his property in spread out small holes. If anyone asked, the dogs had been digging. In my version, this is what he had told Hannibal over dinner that evening when he brought the meat to Hannibal believing it was Freddie as Alana and Jack thought he might. They both believed Will was being manipulated by the doctor mentally just like before. The meat was really human meat they could part with from the morgue.   
They called Will the next morning after to have him come in to ask his opinion on something, only for him to find out She was alive. He was confused and enraged. They explained that they had a plan to catch Hannibal and told Will he had gotten lost too far inside the doctor’s mind; was being manipulated and was thinking like him. Will fooled them and acted very well, with a very emotional and fake epiphany and told them he was on board. He would help them.  
• The rest is in the fic.   
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3\. The night Hannibal offers to Will that they could leave right then, Will is going to agree, but Jack shows up unexpectedly to Hannibal’s and stays for a while. Will realized then, that he couldn’t tell Hannibal about Freddie because he would only believe that Will had betrayed him and meant to to do it so Will was afraid. He wanted Hannibal to know his intentions were pure. He wanted to go with him. He also knew that they could not run away that night. They had to at least slow the FBI down and give them a chance to kill Jack.   
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4\. Will was not trying to stab Hannibal when Chiyoh shot him. He was paranoid they were being followed, drew his weapon for protection and Chiyoh framed him for attempted murder. Chiyoh did it to establish distrust. He really wanted…something else but was too drugged or preoccupied to explain even though in this scene I imagined Will trying to tell him instead of asking him if God gloats but Hannibal quiets him and drugs him, too convinced that he wanted to kill him to care. The rest continues as cannon until Jack comes into find Will at the dining table. I picture Will smiling before Hannibal takes Jack down but NOT warning Jack Hannibal was under the table.   
Cannon until after Muskrat farm when Will wakes up in bed. I picture Hannibal coming in as normal and sitting down and telling Will that saving him and escaping was the teacup coming back together. That they were even and in his own way: equals. And that is why he has to leave. He will not hurt him or kill him and tells him not to look for him. Hannibal trusts him and doesn’t say it to him but wants Will to realize that he wants Will to be safe and off the radar. Will feels defeated. He’s just traveled across the ocean to find him, found him, was denied at the Capella Palatina, kicked off a train and framed to be with him, almost served up for meat twice and now is being denied again. He starts to shake and stand to fight back and is in silent tears when Hannibal gets up to leave, but falls back to the bed looking at him in desperation. And the last thing Hannibal says to him is: Only for now. Will says, “This was all for nothing? Since the first time we met, You don’t want me to miss you or go with you. You want me to forget you. I’ll die and I’ll never be able to spend another evening with you, talking and existing as equal creatures. You have finally decided I am not worth it. You don’t want me by your side after all. Hannibal stops and turns his head back opening his mouth.   
“I have heard the truth,” Will said stopping him.  
“Will-“.   
“ I won’t look for you,” said Will eyes full of broken tears. “ I’ll Only dream of you in waking night terrors. You chose this for me.”   
Hannibal swallows and closes the door behind him. Chiyoh is waiting. Will breaks down. The rest following that scene is canon.  
5.) Freddie Lounds introduced Will to Molly at a bar one evening when he was drunk and lonely and in despair.  
Cannon until this fiction. 

This is my own intermingling continuation of cannon events beginning from when Hannibal pushes the cop out of the car in 'The Wrath of the Lamb' to after the fall and deeper beyond. This Fiction will be loyal to the cannon storyline apart from a few deviations. The only purpose for that is to allow for my own ideas of what I would've liked to see and how I'd perhaps want it to continue to go on. I will be listing the changes in the cannon story line that happened before this fic at the beginning so there is no confusion and for reference and then the rest will carry on out of my head. This will be different from any 'Hannibal TV' fic that I have read so far and it'll be quite long. My intention is to maintain action and suspense and indulge our own Fannibal desires. I had an idea that I had to add into this post-fall and I'm actually liking it. The chapters will be released often and perhaps more than one at a time.   
Simple Summary: Will joins Hannibal in his escape. We finally get to hear the conversation they had on the drive to Hanni's safe house. We get more than an embrace before the fall- which was an intentional act. A safe escape and tons of adventure progress from there and more harmless hannigram secrets are revealed.  
Chapter 1  
“Going my way?”  
Will hesitated for as long as he felt was necessary. In reality his brain was telling him that he should have already been in the car beside Hannibal three seconds ago. He didn’t know if Hannibal would appreciate his genuine eagerness to do so and interpret the action as suspicious instead. Any suspicion wasn’t necessary; Will knew exactly what he wanted.  
They both knew Dolarhyde was watching them and knew The Dragon would be following them wherever they went. Will also knew that between himself and Hannibal, they both had some form of a plan brewing. It was only a matter of who would suggest it first.   
The silence between them was short-lived but not uncomfortable. It was a familiar feeling that Will had been yearning for, for so long. He felt home, but how was he ever supposed to voice that?  
“Are you alright?” Will asked, his heart pounding fast and steady.  
“Of course; I am better than I have been in years, Will,” Hannibal said. A small smile tilted his lips upward. “I can now see the sky and feel the sunlight and wind upon my skin.”   
It made Will think back to how things between them had been before all of this mess happened; his supposed betrayal and gazing upon Abigail’s dead corpse while he lay in a shared pool of their blood. Those were the times when Hannibal would make small gestures of his appreciation for nature during their times together.  
“I have to say, it’s really rare when a plan goes our way,” Will said with a short laugh. “It’s refreshing to see you out of that glass box.”  
“That was the plan?” Hannibal asked.   
Will stared at him.  
“Of course it was. It was that or if Dolarhyde didn’t strike I was going to cause an escape route myself.”  
A short silence.  
“You are saying you meant for me to escape?”  
Did Hannibal really believe otherwise?  
“Yes, Hannibal. You had to have known that? I thought you would understand when I brought the idea of a fake escape up to Jack and came to ask for your help hours ago,personally, that I meant for it to be your real escape.”  
“I of course had doubts,” said Hannibal.  
“Every time I came to see you my actions had to be believable. Many were genuine, Hannibal. I had hoped you would separate which ones.”  
Will’s mind flashed directly to his hand pressed upon the glass of Hannibal’s cell, full of desperate meaning despite what his lips were saying and of him truthfully telling Hannibal earlier that day that he needed him. He also reflected back with a pang in his gut about how he had told him it had not been nice to see him. Because it wasn’t; it was euphoric and fulfilling.  
“So many eyes were watching us. We’re the greatest show of the Century. I’ve never wanted you to be imprisoned or on the run. You know that, you chose to walk away from me.” Will looked away. “Thanks to the “Great Red Dragon,” I now have an opportunity for one of those to be a reality. We won’t let them find you.”  
“It has been three years Will.”  
“Yes, three years of feeling empty and defeated,” Will paused. “I wanted to see you every day. Even though you decided you didn’t want me.”  
Will felt the car slow down and looked to his left. Hannibal’s brows were furrowed as he stared him down.  
“That is still what you believe, Will?”  
“I don’t believe that is how you feel right now, but then, yes. I believe I know your feelings now.”  
Will instantly thought of his conversation with Bedelia and wished he would not have just said that. It wasn’t the time for confessions, for either of them.  
“Really? What has brought about this knew epiphany may I ask.”  
“Don’t-you don’t have to-I just want you to know that every day this entire time, I imagined how I would get you out and what it would be like when I did. Would you believe that I tried? I tried making my way into the hospital several times before Alana caught me and I had to make up the excuse that I was there to see her.” Will laughed sadly. “ Your name came up nearly every time. Neither she nor Jack would obviously not let me near you. I had a plan for a midnight breakout once although I never knew your intentions of getting caught. That plan didn’t work out when the nurse I bribed killed herself.”  
“You cannot think of any reason why I did so, Will?” Hannibal questioned.  
Will sighed quietly.   
“I have one but I’m not certain of it. I came to see you those times despite how painful it was to lay eyes on you even if I could only see you on camera, to know you were alive. Jack had them watching for me after a time.Then, it was he who eventually had to ask for my help. That was my chance. Dolarhyde gave me opportunity.”  
“I knew the times you came to the hospital,” said Hannibal quietly, returning the car to its normal fast speed. “Every time Alana came to taunt me for a while I could smell you on her. It made me want to kill her even more knowing that she had been the one to see you. Then after six months, I knew they had stopped you. I could only hold the scent of you in my memories when the physical presence ceased. I never lost hope.”  
“Hope for what?” Will needed Hannibal to say it. Could he really have been so wrong about Hannibal’s intentions for leaving him behind? Why did he really change his mind?  
“That I would see you again, Will. Particularly in this life, even when I discovered the new life you had built for yourself.”  
There was so much Will needed to say but he knew there might not be time. He chose his words wisely so Hannibal might understand this. The way the two of them spoke had never been direct; never revealing intimate feelings although that intimacy never faltered.  
“Molly was thrown upon me in a moment of despairing, drunken weakness at a bar Hannibal; by no other than Freddie Lounds. The woman this all goes back to.”  
“Ah, yes, the ‘deal breaker’ you might say.”  
“No, Hannibal, I wouldn’t say. I would never say. You didn’t listen then but I beg you to listen now.”  
Hannibal kept his mouth closed, his face impassive, and Will knew the man was clenching his teeth, either out of anticipation or anger he couldn’t tell.  
“ I did not betray you, Hannibal. You never gave me the chance to explain anything to you. You thought the worst. You just-.” Will couldn’t say the words. He shut his eyes tightly fighting back the demons of his nightmares he hated to call flashbacks, memories to a time that had actually happened.   
“Explain,” Hannibal said cutting through the silence.  
Will looked at him wondering if he had misheard. “What?”  
“Explain what happened, Will.” Their eyes locked. “I am listening now.”   
Hannibal needed to believe it really had all been a mistake, he needed Will to explain that he had been wrong for once and convince him that it had all been a misunderstanding.  
Will wasted no time.  
“I completely believed I had killed Freddie Lounds-.”  
“Will, you had me believe that you’d brought me a piece of her to prepare for our dinner that night. How could you have mistaken if she was dead or alive when you were flaying her?”  
“Alana.”  
“What about her?”  
“And Jack.”  
“You will have me believe that they manipulated you in some way?”  
“It is the definitive truth, Hannibal. They learned from your previous methods used before I was institutionalized as a matter of fact,” Will smiled bitterly. “They came to my home and did this to me.”  
“What exactly is the “this” that they did to you?”  
“Alana would never tell me which techniques she used on me, and I have never remembered, but she and Jack knew that I would have killed Freddie that day if they had not been on the property hiding and watching the whole thing play out. It all of course gave them such a brilliant idea.”  
“Are you sure they knew that, Will? They don’t know the darkness in you like I do.”  
Hannibal’s words seeped into Will’s mind, into his body, causing a slight tremor. Yes, he knows me; intimately, intellectually. Will could always picture vividly how it would be if they were physically intimate. The thought made him shift in a way he hoped would be discreet, even to Hannibal.   
“Exactly. They didn’t know it per se, but they were watching the house from the forest to see what I was really doing when alone and saw Freddie sneaking onto the property. They saw her go into the building and saw her run from me and even drag her out of the car, exactly how I did whenever I told you how I killed her over dinner, so long ago.” Will said it in sorrow.  
“What happened next, Will,” Hannibal asked trying to ease the memories for them both and distract him.   
Will faced Hannibal.  
“Jack hit me from behind, apparently with a really thick log. I released Freddie as it knocked me unconscious. I remember seeing lights and hearing Alana’s voice. I thought it was a dream. I woke up in my bed at Wolf Trap with a slight headache and sore scalp surrounded by my dogs with full memories of killing Freddie, dismembering her, cleaning her meat to freeze, and discarded any parts unusable in holes around the property. I even remembered the damn clean up. Alana left no stone unturned. I went back to where Lounds first discovered my little secret to make sure I didn’t miss anything, but the two of them were clever. There were still specks of blood and strands of her hair that I had “missed” to make the ‘memories’ so believable to me without a doubt. And in the freezer there was even fresh meat; obviously human, from some poor cadaver at the morgue. ”  
“ So how did you come to find out she was alive?”  
“A day before you--left, good old Dr. Bloom and Jack Crawford both called me asking for my help at the Bureau with something extremely important. It was a ruse. Instead, I would arrive to find Freddie Lounds hidden in Jack’s office very alive and very well.”  
“How did that make you feel?” Hannibal asked.   
Will gave him a glare in spite of his own smile that reflected Hannibal’s perfectly. There was that feeling again, a feeling Will would gladly enjoy surviving off of.  
“I was furious and extremely confused. I felt like I really was going insane that time. They all three explained that they’d planned all of it. They utilized my darkness and tried to make an intervention out of it.”  
Will laughed bitterly.   
“Jack and Alana preached to me about how I had gone too far.” Will paused looking at Hannibal. “Too far inside your mind, inside of you; and said that they could use it, however.”  
“Use it?” Hannibal asked and Will saw the doctor’s jaw muscles clench. “How exactly did they plan to do that?”  
Will knew he understood how, but he knew Hannibal wanted to hear it.  
“Jack and Alana tried to convince me how insane I had become, how far down the rabbit hole I had fallen and I let them believe they convinced me. My acting skills seemingly worked because they told me their plans. Of course it was to try and use me to capture you.” Will scoffed. “They were so blind. I wasn’t. I saw everything so clearly. I knew what I wanted, Hannibal.”  
Will looked out his window with immediate regret once more at his own words. He couldn’t face Hannibal’s penetrating gaze. Why had he just walked into that one?   
“What did you want, Will?”  
“I wanted to leave with you Hannibal. I wanted to run with you. That night when you wanted to leave, I was going to say yes until we were interrupted by Jack’s unexpected arrival. I was going to plan everything with you that night and go. Leave right then, before it all changed. I wanted to kill him right there, but he had already told everyone he was coming to your home. I couldn’t let it happen that way, you needed time to get away.” Will paused with a swallow and Hannibal remained silent, patient.  
“We needed time. I, of course, didn’t know Abigail was alive. I wasn’t angry when I saw her. I just wanted it; the freedom with you. We all would have been living exactly as we had planned if I hadn’t been so stupid.”  
Will thought back to how he had watched Abigail die as he was dying and couldn’t deny that he had understood right then, Hannibal’s reasons for doing everything he did. His heart was broken because the doctor misunderstood.  
“You didn’t tell me that Freddie Lounds was alive, Will,” Hannibal said and Will watched his adam’s apple bob. “I had to discover it in my own way. I caught her scent on you and there was a hair on your shirt. You continued to lie.”  
“I never got the chance to tell you anything, before you cut me open, Hannibal! It felt like you had killed every part of me but the part of me that was you!”  
“You had every opportunity, Will; a plethora of them.”  
“Hannibal, I did not know how to tell you until the very moment I couldn’t. I kept imagining you thinking that I had lied to you the entire time since I was released from the asylum. I never lied to you except for when it came to a few personal thoughts.”  
“What personal thoughts?” Hannibal asked immediately.  
“I—it’s---not the right—we don’t have time, Hannibal,” Will said in embarrassment. “Also, notice the word persona-”  
“What is it with you and time, Will?” Hannibal interjected. “It is absolutely infuriating.”  
“I don’t like to ruin things or make them worse.”  
“How would confiding in me make things worse?” Hannibal questioned.  
“ Do I—you really need me to answer that? I need to finish explaining.” Will looked away with crimson cheeks.   
He saw Hannibal smirk as he turned the car down a smooth drive that Will would never have noticed was there in passing. It was blocked by large tree limbs. He didn’t question it, there wasn’t time.  
“I was scared, Hannibal. Not of you killing me, but of exactly what did happen; your belief that I had betrayed you. I wanted you to be gone when I got there. I wanted you to kill Jack and leave and let me cover everything up and meet you soon.”  
“I would have believed you, Will. I would have listened.”  
“Would you have, Hannibal? I mean especially when you and I know better than anyone how cruel and deceptive humans can be. I wanted to tell you everything; I needed you to know my intentions, what I wanted. What I want."  
Hannibal didn’t miss the distinction in his words.  
“What is it that you want, Will?”  
Will closed his eyes again. Tell him. Just. Tell. Him. Tell him you fucking coward. Will cleared his throat.  
“Right now, I want to get you out of this mess and to take care of the Dragon. We need a plan. I was thinking--.”  
“Chiyoh.”  
“I’m sorry?” Will said.   
“ I already have the plan figured out, Will.”  
“ Oh,” Will said simply. That was easy, except nothing is ever easy with Hannibal Lecter, especially not an escape. “Did you say, Chiyoh?”  
“Yes, I actually had the plan worked out a week ago. I hypothesized it would come down to some sort of rendezvous between the Red Dragon and I, but I did not know what the intentions would be. I had hoped it would be you to suggest it. I would need to be outside of the facility for me to be bait and you, hopefully, needed to be with me, so I phoned a friend. A friend that no one but very few know about.”  
“How did you get away with that?” Will asked amused.   
“ Chiyoh, and I created our own code of speaking long ago and we have always had a constant train of telephone numbers and codes memorized to contact each other when necessary. Dr. Bloom of course did not approve that she couldn’t find a single translator to decode the message said between the two of us and threatened me in all sorts of bland ways until I gave her an answer of some sort. I told her it was an artist acquaintance that I had been thinking about and we were discussing a painting I was drawing. Sometimes I am thankful for the ignorance of others.”  
“Impressive,” Will praised. “How is this plan going to work and am I—involved, completely I mean. I’m going to help.”  
Will knew Hannibal would understand his meaning, but was hesitant to learn the answer.   
Hannibal smirked. “I have no intention of killing you or having you be killed ever again, Will or being separated.”  
Will quietly exhaled relief and his heart hammered.   
“ So many times that could have all been prevented, Hannibal. And so many times you have understood everything the wrong way.”  
“What are you referring to?”  
“Every time you thought I was trying to kill you and every time you felt the need to kill me.”   
“Every time I thought you were trying to kill me? Were those times not evident?”  
“Hannibal, I have literally never tried to kill you.”  
“Will, I am fairly familiar with the idea and concept of murder in case you have forgotten.”  
“And that is exactly why you refused to see or believe anything other than that as what was happening, Hannibal.”  
Hannibal sighed, Will was definitely in denial, but he decided to humor him. “Explain.”  
“First, let’s get through this alive, and I will tell you everything. What is your plan.”  
“Simple, I am driving us to a location of mine and from there, I’ll slay the Dragon and you and I will jump from the cliff into the Atlantic waters below, hopefully, with only minor injuries and Chiyoh will fish us from the sea where we will board my ship and sail to a very secret location.”  
Will blinked. “You have a ship?”  
“Yes, her name is Rillia.”  
“That’s pretty.”  
“And very special.”  
“We are both dealing with Dolarhyde, Hannibal, not just you.”   
“I don’t want you to be involved if you can help it, Will.”  
“I’m already unleashed, I’m not afraid of myself anymore.”  
“This may not be the kill you deserve.”  
Will sighed.  
“Did you say we were going to jump off of a cliff?”  
“Yes.”  
“What cliff?”  
“This one.”   
Hannibal pointed to his left and Will only saw a sandy driveway of sorts and the darkening sky before focusing on the fancy condo-ish home in view in front of them. Will realized a while back that they were by the ocean but he had a feeling the view from this vantage point would be undeniably gorgeous and now, definitely harrowing.

Thank you all so much!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Hannibal make it to the Cliffside home that Hannibal had kept Miriam Lass and Abigail hidden. Explanations are given and confessions are made. We see our murder husbands at work in all of their glory. Things get beautifully heated before the intentional 'fall'.

Chapter 2  
Hannibal parked the police car. Will exited first making his way over to the cliff side with his hands in his pockets. The breeze on top of the cliff was wispy and cool; quite welcoming. The view was breathtaking regardless of Will’s thoughts delving to the depths of the fast wavy horizon in front of them. He felt Hannibal walk to his side.   
“At least the view is incredible,” Will said. “ How could you stay away from it for too long?”  
“I’ve had very good reasons in the past, Will before my incarceration. And one really vital one.”  
Will kept his eyes on the sea to hide how much hearing that implication affected him.   
“It’s eroded more since I was here with Miriam lass. Even more so since I was here with Abigail.”  
Will’s stomach lurched at the name.   
“Come,” said Hannibal. “We must prepare for our guest although I imagine he is already here watching us somewhere. I need a change of suit. This one really needs to be burned.”  
Will inhaled deeply and followed him under the outdoor lights and in through the sliding glass doors. The home was pristine, spacious, and welcoming with an air of wealth and a scent that took a moment to resonate with him. Incense. Chiyoh. She must have been staying here and protecting it for Hannibal. Her loyalty was astounding and not entirely unwelcomed.   
Will couldn’t shake his jealousy and he had no idea why it attacked him so harshly. He wondered if there had been anything going on between Hannibal and Chiyoh ever, or even if it still was now in between correspondences. Will knew the woman felt something for Hannibal, but wasn’t sure what that something was. But was Hannibal just using her or was there more? Will now had reason to suspect the doctor was in love with him but how did love work with Hannibal?  
Will didn’t feel like there should be anything else and his jaw clenched with the thought of it.   
When the two men had checked every room of the house for an intruder and confirmed it was clear, Hannibal addressed Will.   
“Make yourself comfortable, Will. I’ll only be a few moments.”  
Will watched him disappear into a bedroom that he glimpsed was stocked full of expensive clothing and items then turned his attention toward the glass windows.   
If there were any onlookers, they would have seen what appeared to be Will looking back out at them and onto the patio, but Will was watching the reflection in the glass to know when Hannibal was re-entering the room and listening intently for any signs of trouble.   
The mental image of a possible Hannibal fighting for his life and Will helpless to do anything sent a wave of panic through him. What if he never got the chance to tell him everything he wanted to? He couldn’t let that happen.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Will had been lost in deep thought about what he wanted to say in case he no longer could but maintained concentration, until the image of Hannibal’s reflection came into view.   
He was in perfectly flawless clothing, brown on black and carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses with him. Will turned to him, elated to know he was still there. He feared that Hannibal would have left him again somehow. He didn’t run away from Will this time and leave him shattered beyond repair; not yet and he hoped with his entire being that it would never happen again.   
“Hannibal, I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, but If anything happens to me I cannot leave you believing these…these lies and misconceptions about me. “  
“Misconceptions?” Hannibal asked in surprise, handed Will his glass and started to pour.  
“Yes!” Will said in frustration. “And you are too damn stubborn and proud to see when you’re wrong, or better yet, when I’m telling you the truth.”  
Hannibal watched Will closely. He watched his adam’s apple rise and fall as he drank the liquid deeply and inhaled his clean scent intertwined with adrenaline. They were less than a few feet apart.   
“Forgive me, Will. I don’t understand the falsifications you’re referring to,” he said with a silent release of breath. “Does this relate to the explanation I requested of you earlier?”  
“Yes, it’s everything Hannibal!” Will said running a hand through his immaculate curls with a sardonic smile.   
Will stepped even closer, took a breath and looked directly into Hannibal’s uniquely beautiful crimson-gold eyes.   
“There are so many things we have been through; so many things that you have the opposite understanding of. We have destroyed each other in so many ways until there is only our souls left drifting in the ghosts of our bodies and so many times it could have all been prevented.”  
Hannibal absorbed every word Will spoke; feeling his reactions, not just listening. He let him continue.  
“I don’t know how much time I have to tell you what I need to, but I’m praying for once in my life that you will listen to me,” Will plead. “Please, Hannibal. Listen to my truth. There are no games here, I stopped playing them with you a long time ago but you just wanted to keep moving pieces.”  
Hannibal was almost breathless concentrating on Will’s more than his own.   
“ I’m listening, Will.”  
And he truly was.   
Will gave a short and intense kind of laugh and set his drink down; being animated with his hands. Hannibal came to recognize this as Will’s unique way of explaining. He hoped Dolarhyde would stay at bay long enough for Will to tell him everything he had been too blind to notice. Though unsure and doubtful he had misunderstood anything, Hannibal knew there was a first time for everything.  
“Hannibal, I was destroyed when I discovered you were the Ripper. Devastatingly torn apart inside because of what you meant to me. Of what you’ve always meant to me, from that very first moment in Jack’s office even if I didn’t know it at the time. I wasn’t afraid that you would kill me, or that you had been toying with me. I was distraught that you had never seen me as your equal and that is how you wanted to wreck me further, taunt me by framing me and making yourself out to be an innocent victim and show me you’d won. I felt betrayed; humiliated because it was as if you were laughing at me. I didn’t see it as a competition but I realized that must have been what it was to you in the end.   
“I was going to lose you because I was not good enough to make you see I could understand and I became your fool, Hannibal. I didn’t believe you found me different. I got angry, angry because I cared about you so damn much. I had someone for the first time in my existence that I could actually talk to, eat with, laugh with. And then you were gone, and I was gone; all alone. No animals, no land, no home. Just a locked box. “  
“You never understood. Not even after I came to your office to start our sessions again when I was released. I did not send that man to kill you, Hannibal. He came after you on his own. Remember, I only told him if he did come after you, he would not live. I did want him to come to you, only because I wanted you to kill him. I still wanted you to be you, and it killed me, knowing how pathetic and blind I had been and how wrong it should be to accept your murders. I had given up. I was lost.   
“Jack and the damn media had to have themselves believe I was accusing you and was trying to have you killed because I was after all, an insane moron, not your equal. So I let them believe it. I let you win. I never admitted anything although I was so damn angry at you and that’s not how you and I work is it? I never would admit such a thing because it would never happen. I could never kill you. I’d never want that. I was pissed and shattered. I took it out like a betrayed child, friend, or-lover.”  
Will was afraid he sounded like a school girl, but knew he was running out of time.   
“I never wanted you to lie to me about being the Ripper or killing but I understand how that is obviously not something you can come out and say. It’s not something I would easily accept. Especially to someone who works with the FBI and especially to a man like me then, who had not embraced the darkness.   
“I believe I knew somehow. I think it was your genius that gave it away for me. Your mind, your words, your personality. You let me see into it and for the first time I didn’t hate it. I enjoyed it. I wanted that gift. I could truly, ’see’, even though I was still indecisive on the inside because I thought, ‘what if you left me’ and what if I couldn’t stop killing if I started’ and would find myself locked up forever, never being able to-be with you, my unconventional form of stability and valued companionship.”  
“Hannibal, you have been so desperate to doubt my intentions with you on so many occasions and it kills me. It’s been killing me. You tore through me because you thought I betrayed you. I broke your heart. I thought I did kill Freddie Lounds. As I said, I was afraid to tell you then, because I feared you would in fact think it was a betrayal and you did! I intended on telling you Jack’s plan after he confided in me because I needed you to still want me to run with you. That is what I wanted to do. It was all a misunderstanding. I called you, I called you to tell you they were coming. I was coming to you.   
“I would run anywhere with you still. That never changed. I told Jack I wanted to run with you. I told him that I had chosen you. Twice. Once before I left to find you and I told him again in France, Hannibal, what I wanted. You were gone. You didn’t want me. But you had to know.   
“I had to tell you that I survived and it was a mistake, a misunderstanding. I forgave you. I forgive you Hannibal. There was nothing to forgive. You killed Abigail because you saved her. You knew she would get caught or give herself up and live in prison for the rest of her life and die there as a worst case scenario, anyway. You set her free. You were also punishing me, however. You were careful and knew I wouldn’t die but had to show me how much you felt Id hurt you.”  
“I recovered and found you Hannibal. I spent months building a boat with only the purpose of finding you.”   
“I wanted you to appear before me at Palermo when I came for you and take me away then. You and I as it should have always been. I’d hoped Jack would stay away.”  
Hannibal wanted to speak so many times, but he knew Will would struggle if he interrupted.  
“ Hannibal, I did not drop my forgiveness after finally seeing you again. It felt like an eternity. Time stopped and I was complete once more when I saw you sitting there, drawing. There were men on the street behind us when we left. I thought they might have been Policia or men of Mason Verger’s. I never thought of hurting you.   
“Chiyo framed me for that. It was foolish for me to draw the knife in defense. If I had only known she was up there watching over you, I would not have drawn a weapon to make you doubt my intentions. I found you. You were beside me again. You didn’t listen to me then, you thought I was lying to you. Again.   
“You tended to my bullet wound and I thought you understood but You tried to kill me; this time indefinitely. I wonder if you would have went through with it completely. The only thing that was worse was that you misunderstood.   
“After the Verger incident, you carried me home. I had hope. I held onto that hope in my dreams as you mended me and it stayed when I woke and you were there. But you left me. You left me and my only understanding of why is that you were sick of me, you were honorable, felt like we were even then, but had confidence that I would not chase you this time. It’s possible that you felt it would put me in danger and didn’t owe me that. But leaving me was danger. I wanted to go with you, I needed you. Like I do now.”  
Hannibal’s eyes flashed.   
“You need me?” He said.  
“Of course I need you. I am incomplete without you,” said Will, clearing his throat and starting back into his explanation quickly. “I’ve told you so before. Then Jack came. I told him you were gone, but you weren’t, you were there. You had been on the property the entire time as I spilled tears. I know you heard me. Why didn’t you come back inside to me? I would have left with you instantly.”  
“It was the only way.”  
“No, it wasn’t Hannibal. When have we ever followed typical guidelines? You gave yourself up so that I would always know where you would be when I needed you, but I never stopped needing you. If you had changed your mind about leaving, why did you wait until the FBI came? I watched you surrender and then had to go back inside knowing that I had to trust your decision. You thought you were keeping me safe so they wouldn’t hunt me too or had some other intricate plan but I felt you were done with me. I became boring.”  
“Will, you were never boring, I was trying to--,” Hannibal tried to cut in.  
“Whatever it was, I am just glad that I knew you were staying safe at least for three years,” Will said holding up a hand.  
“You knew they wouldn’t let me see you unless it was important. I would have went through a thousand trials to see you. One day in court, pretending that it was easy to just walk away not knowing when I would see you again was hell, it was like dying all over again. When I told you I needed you this morning, Hannibal, I meant it in--every way.   
“You had to have known that I would break you out. It took me three years to realize you did care. After the letter you sent me. Three years of feeling dead. Three years of playing the domesticated step-father and husband with a woman I could only be intimate with by imagining…”  
Suddenly, a shot came through the window behind Hannibal almost silent and the doctor was hit in the abdomen. Will watched in shock as he fell, blood seeping from his wound, wine glass breaking. Dolarhyde stepped into the room from the entrance he had created.   
The dragon stared down at the sight of Hannibal propped up, crimson trickling through his fingers. The image of him hurt in that way sent a surge of violent fury through every cell in Will’s body. Dolarhyde immediately began to taunt Hannibal and Will heard him distantly explain to Hannibal how he was going to kill him and film it. Will’s pulse drummed in his blood. How did this pathetic soul think he could best Hannibal Lecter or even Will himself for that matter, the creation that Hannibal had pulled from the depths of a broken form. They were lions; lions three times as powerful as any dragon when they were together.   
Will took a step forward to help Hannibal but Dolarhyde screamed.  
“Don’t move! He’s not going to bleed out so soon. Not until I am done with him. However, he’ll die quicker than I would like if you remain disobedient. Mr. Graham.”  
“He is going to watch me change you, Dr. Lecter,” said Dolarhyde.  
Will met Hannibal’s gaze and after a moment cautiously began to remove his gun but the dragon struck. Dolarhyde stabbed Will in the right cheek. The knife pierced white hot through his flesh and the Dragon lifted Will by the puncture and tossed him through the window onto the concrete like a ragdoll.  
Dolarhyde followed and grabbed Will. Will pulled the knife from his face while even more copper liquid filled his mouth and reached behind to sink the knife into any place he could find on the Dragon.  
Furious, Dolarhyde pulled the knife from him and buried it into Will’s shoulder and lifted his chin as if he would break his neck or cut his throat. But Will felt himself be released from the man. Hannibal had emerged from the house and latched onto the Dragon from behind. Will knew how much pain this caused his body, but Hannibal’s thoughts matched his own. They were the killing kind.   
Dolarhyde threw Hannibal from him and Will watched him roll. The Red Dragon followed with wide spread wings as if looming down upon his prey.   
The ache of being stabbed a second time would have been blinding if not for Will’s sheer determination to destroy this man. This is the high, the release he had craved, this anger and this companionable surge of letting go and giving in alongside Hannibal.   
Will pulled and pushed through his agony , ripping the weapon from him as blood spurted in long rivulets. This was it. He saw Hannibal lifted their with powerful hands around his throat and he lunged stabbing Dolarhyde multiple times before being thrown off. He watched Hannibal take an axe from the ground and slice into The Dragon while he was distracted. Will sliced at him again and so did Hannibal.   
Dolarhyde was now in the center of them. Bloody and with his adrenaline singing, Will caught Hannibal’s gaze. The doctor leaped onto the Dragon’s back a second time with his arms around his throat. Will knew exactly what to do. He ran forward and slashed into Dolarhyde’s stomach and watched as blood cascaded from him like a broken dam.  
Hannibal sank his teeth into the man’s throat and ripped away the flesh from his trachea.  
They watched together as the Dragon fell. He lay spread out between them lifeless and defeated. His wings looked less menacing this way but no less beautiful.  
Will crouched beside the patio bench and looked at his hand, painted in the life force of three men.  
“It really does look black in the moonlight.”  
Hannibal helped Will and Will held on to him, breathing ragged. Blood drenched them and their mouths and faces were covered in it.  
“See? This is all I ever wanted for you, Will-for both of us.”  
“It’s beautiful,” said Will with a slow smile tearing through his features, showing white teeth glazed with crimson.  
Hannibal stroked Will’s good cheek slowly. “You are beautiful.”  
“We are beautiful,” said Will shakily.   
He started to feel agony in every inch of his body and could not vividly imagine Hannibal’s pain. Will was oddly looking forward to the next phase in their plan: Chiyoh arriving with Rillia .The plan is meant to look like they jumped. He feels like he can already hear the wind blowing through its majestic sails and the bitterly cleansing purity of ocean water. It should only be a few moments.   
Are they going to survive this? Yes. They have to. They need to. They deserve this.   
“Will, I need to know,” said Hannibal as they balanced against each other. Will’s mind stalled. He became very aware of how close they were. Even drenched in blood and in excruciating pain he was still a man, part monster-part man who was highly aware that the embrace he was in with Hannibal right then had only ever been plausibly felt in his dreams.  
It would have disturbed him long ago, but not now, to realize that in the situation they were in, blood and gashes everywhere, that the blood currently not flowing out of him was flowing to a certain area behind his zipper. He smiled at the ridiculous inappropriateness of it as he held Hannibal- a man who radiated impossible warmth on the windy ledge.   
“Anything.”  
Hannibal lifted Will’s chin holding his face in his right hand searching, glancing at his blood soaked lips.   
“What do you imagine while making love?”  
Will’s breathing was increasingly ragged from pain and this new reality. His heart fought for survival but he moved his hands to hold on to Hannibal’s hips as he kept them steady, pressing into him firmly and gently so he could feel his rigidity.   
“I imagine being consumed by you, body and soul,” Will declared with his eyes blazing in the moonlight. “ I have for a very long time. I feel you inside me, above me, devouring me and in turn, I completely, devotedly ravage you in euphoria.”  
Hannibal swallowed hard then, he had wondered if he would ever hear those words dance out of Will’s lips; surprisingly different of how he imagined Will would say them but even more potent. And now that he had, everything felt utterly perfect. He pulled the small of Will’s back inward to him harder, intentionally needing to feel the intensity against his own.  
“We are making more than love in those moments of my imagination, we are ecstasy, more powerful than creation itself because together, we are the ultimate creation,” Will said.  
“ Since I met you, it’s been an addiction. I have pounded my fist a thousand more times than I ever have to the actual few women I’ve ever been with in my life all while thinking of you. I picture you like this, standing in front of me, sometimes bare with only streaks of blood painting your perfect body. Sex does not feel right with anyone else, I can only do it if you are in my mind. I would jack off after every session of ours, in the shower, on the drive home. You drive me crazy, Hannibal.”  
Will just barely finished his sentence when Hannibal ran a smooth thumb over his shaking bottom lip, shutting him up as a shock of heat electrified his groin. He felt like any touch from Hannibal would be like touching live wire now.   
“I have been waiting for this for a very, very long time Will. You and I, power ful and glorious.”  
The only things that existed in that moment were the two of them. Will could feel their hearts beat as one in a steady rapid pace. Hannibal drew closer to Will with every slam of their pulse. Time stopped.  
At first it was just a brush of skin and then an explosion erupted inside of them, between them, and all around them. Pure fire, pure lust, love and ecstasy. Blood was on Will’s tongue. Blood and flesh, light, grey, dark, and kaleidoscopic. Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter: the only beings in the universe. They fell inside each other, and intertwined. Each touch was if highlighted imprints of passion burned into their skin, leaving different glows of light.   
Remaining clothes were being torn, and pure animal need surged a top the cliff. It was only when Will started involuntarily shaking more fiercely that reason snapped Hannibal back to reality. He gently pulled away, giving Will deep breaths and shifted his weight against him.   
Hannibal released a shaky laugh, “Will we cannot do this here, we have more trials ahead and you are injured.”  
“We both are,” Will breathed placing his hand on Hannibal’s abdomen and wrapping his right hand up onto Hannibal’s shoulder to grasp tightly burying his face into the taller man’s shoulder.   
“Will, I need you to know. I believe you. Everything you said, everything you explained. I believe you and later I will tell you in all of the ways you were wrong about my feelings for you.”  
Will felt like he would start crying but knew he had to save his energy. He’d waited far too long to hear that.  
“I’m not going to let go of you, “said Hannibal.   
“I would rather die than stop holding you,” Will agreed.   
“Please, don’t say that, especially not now.”  
Will nodded and smiled weakly and looked over the edge. There was a beautiful and seemingly elegant ship down below the rocky landing bordering the cliff side.  
“Is that Rillia?”  
“It is.”  
Will knew he was wasting time, but looking down upon the rocks was extremely intimidating.  
“We can do this,” Will said.  
“We will do this.” Hannibal said.  
Then, without further procrastination, Will pulled them both over the rocky edge of the cliff headed straight down into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Hannibal survive the fall and make it onto Hannibal's ship, 'Rillia, with Chiyoh's help. Now, they all are about to face an even bigger challenge, but it's worth it and it is a good thing. Will has no idea what to expect, but he's certain it isn't this.

Chapter 3  
Ice, persistent and un-breaking like stubborn glass, pierced through every cell, bit of flesh, lung and bone in Will’s body before slicing into his brain. The one thing he knew is that he had to hold on to Hannibal, that was the important thing, keep a hold of him and bring them to the surface where they would be saved. But Will closed his frozen hand and grasped nothing… panic shot through him and he felt around frantically for Hannibal. Suddenly a hand reached around his and pulled him in tight bringing him into their chest. He prayed this was Hannibal who now propelled them both upward toward the surface. Sweet relief flowed through Will as they breached the water and saw that it was.  
Everything was a blur from there. Will was so numb that he barely realized he was participating in climbing up a boat ladder; Hannibal helped him from below by pushing him up. Will felt like a child or some weakling.  
When he reached the top, gloved hands reached down to pull him forward. He looked and saw Chiyoh holding on to him tight. Her expression was unreadable except for the pure focus she was giving to her task. It was like watching someone paint, gut their kill or perform surgery. The woman only showed slight struggle in the pull of him onto the ship. Will lay there, breathing in some sort of calm and watched as Hannibal only accepted part of her help before he went to Will to help him up.   
He saw that his doctor looked just as frozen and agonized as himself but whatever he was feeling, Hannibal was ridiculously completely in control of it.   
Hannibal looked in his eyes, at his face, at his wounded shoulder and without hesitation pulled him into an embrace. Will found himself in a similar situation as he had upon the cliff, except this embrace had only comfort and relief that they had made it. There was no heated passion in this moment, but that did not mean the fire between them had dwindled for a moment.  
Chiyoh provided them both warm thermal pants and shirts with boots, towels, jackets and blankets. Will wanted the first time he stripped in front of Hannibal to be more intimate than freezing to death on the deck of Rillia shaking in front of Chiyoh. She was still a stranger whom he didn’t trust so he stumbled inside the ship’s small cabin with the clothes, towel, and blanket to dress quickly so he could focus on caring for Hannibal. Will needed to get him into the cabin for warmth and to get the soaking clothes off of his bullet wound even though he noticed the man’s superhuman ability to control his body temperature. Will wasn’t fooled, however, he knew he was in great pain. He dreaded to know how extensive the injury was. How many organs had the Dragon penetrated?  
It took three long minutes for Will to change not even caring about any access blood that the ocean didn’t get off of him and make it back out to the deck where he was surprised to see Hannibal already dressed head to toe and had a large white case in front of him in a chair.  
Hannibal beckoned him.  
“Will, this is going to be painful-, “ started Hannibal.  
“No, you first, Hannibal, you have been shot, mine are just stab wounds.”   
“Chiyoh will treat me after I see to you. Please do not argue, we need her at the wheel steering us as quickly to our destination as possible.”  
“I can help you; just tell me what to do.”   
“I will need you to take over for her when I am finished,” said Hannibal.   
Will sat in the chair as Hannibal moved the case to the deck floor. He started to unzip his jacket when Hannibal gently moved his hands and took over the act. Will fell in love with the sweet dominance in it.   
“Shoulder first, then your cheek.”  
All Will could do was watch Hannibal carefully expose his right shoulder from the jacket and pull his shirt off. The man has already had plenty of experience undressing him.   
Will watched Hannibal’s gaze, thinking away from the pain he was about to endure. He watched the doctor keep his eyes focused on his wounds but for several seconds before he began, Will watched him scan his eyes over his exposed torso with pleasure.  
“I need you to hold on for me, Will, please,” Hannibal said when he noticed Will’s shiver. “The shot I am going to give you will numb what it can. It is very strong, but I have a feeling it may not take care of all pain.”  
Will nodded and took a breath in and out. He would do anything.   
“Where are we going, Hannibal?”  
Hannibal was concentrating but the pause did not escape Will as he watched Hannibal extract a vial and syringe from the front compartment of the white box.  
“Somewhere very safe and hidden.”  
Hannibal braced his left shoulder and without hesitation shot the syringe of numbing medication into his right.   
The intrusion stung, but after their submergence in the ocean moments ago, Will believed nothing would ever compare and he barely noticed. He watched Hannibal replace the supplies and withdraw a small bottle of mysterious solution and surgical sponge.  
“Have you been there before?”  
“Yes, there is something waiting for us there. Now, I need you to be very still for me.” Hannibal said as he withdrew a long line of thick black surgical thread and a thicker needle when he finished cleaning the blood from the entire area.  
Will didn’t say anything but just watched him work. He shouldn’t have been but he was still surprised when he didn’t feel the pain of the needle flowing in and out of his skin with perfect precision as he watched even more blood pour from his wound.   
“What do you think, doctor? Will I have any left when this is over?”  
“You will not have as much as I would like for you to have coursing through your veins, but lucky for you, the location we are going to has plenty of blood to go around and we will have you well very soon.”  
“Now, I am incredibly curious,” Will said with wide, confused eyes. “How far away is this place?”  
Hannibal glanced briefly up from his work to look back at the surroundings and Chiyoh. “Not far.”  
Will wasn’t sure he understood.   
“How are we going to get away then, Hannibal? You know Jack will discover our gift back there soon if he hasn’t already and the helicopters and boats are not far behind.”  
“Do you trust me?” Hannibal said cutting off the thread neatly as he finished.  
“Yes,” Will said and he had once thought he would never hear that sequence of words from the two of them ever be uttered.  
Hannibal stared at him briefly, clearly pleased as the doctor spread a secure but breathable bandage over the stitches.  
“Then trust that I will protect us, Will. This is all I have ever wanted, perhaps not exactly as how things have happened but you and I. Together. Exploring, Living.”  
Will’s mind jumped straight to the imaginations of what ‘exploring’ could entail especially now that Hannibal’s hands were back on him pulling his clothes back together and zipping his coat.  
“I am prepared,” continued Hannibal.  
When Will had all of his clothes securely back on, Hannibal moved to his cheek. Will tried to keep his eyes straight forward or down at the ship deck floor, but Hannibal’s uniquely intoxicating scent drew his eyes to watch the doctor’s arms work.   
It wasn’t long before Will realized this stitching was going to hurt a hell of a lot worse than his shoulder, even with the numbing shot, which felt like the needle was going to go all the way to the back of his head.   
Will took deep shallow breaths and Hannibal worked fast, noting his partner’s discomfort. It could not have been over fast enough, but when it did and Hannibal cut the stitching and placed a patch over it, Chiyoh came over at that moment, long black hair pulled into a pony tail looking between them.   
Without a word Will stood and made sure Hannibal sat down. The doctor unzipped his own coat and pulled up the black woolen long-sleeved showing a perfect, bloody abdomen.  
Chiyoh saw Will’s gaze and made a noise.   
“We need you at the wheel.” she said plainly.   
Had he imagined a touch of venom in her tone? He wondered-hoped really-that she would be separating from them when they reached wherever they were going to. She was only doing this for Hannibal, and they were once again on the run, so why would she want to stay? Isn’t there anything the woman had wanted to do? Will smiled and made his way over to ‘take the reins’ but kept an ear open in case he heard any trouble come from Hannibal’s mending.  
Thirty minutes passed without any sound other than the crashing waves, Hannibal made no sound that anything was even being done to him at the moment and Will was beginning to feel paranoid in the loud silence. He kept looking around at the clouds, trying to spot the phantom choppers and squinted back into the distance and ahead searching for other ships.  
At another time, Will would have loved this experience, enjoyed it fully. Steering a big ship such as this.  
He didn’t hear Chiyoh come back over to him as she placed her hands on the wheel.  
“ I will take it from here,” she said not looking at him.   
Will moved quickly to Hannibal who lay back in the chair with his eyes closed. He held out his hand as Will approached and Will could see a small blood-stained bullet.   
“The bullet was just barely peering through the wound, didn’t quite make it out all the way,” said Hannibal.  
Will hated the sight of it and wanted to snatch it and throw it as hard as he could into the ocean but Hannibal read his mind and did it for him.   
Suddenly, like they were transported to some other part of the ocean, Will watched as Chiyoh steered them toward a large towering Cliffside in the distance shorter than the one he and Hannibal had fallen from. They were still far from it and Will was too exhausted to pay much attention to it other than to mentally name it an “island” due to it being completely covered in trees and simply notice its particularly odd existence and placement.   
Will and Hannibal had not stopped gazing at each other intermittently for the hour or so that they had been sailing. The moments in between were mainly spent by Will drifting off, but Hannibal rarely and reluctantly moved his eyes away from the man. The doctor was also exhausted and positive that his wound was more damaging than Chiyoh realized or she knew but did not have the ability or the knowledge to take care of it properly. He would not bring it up to her. Later, he would check out the situation himself and do what needed to be done even if that meant replacing the stitching altogether.  
Despite all of this, Hannibal would not rest until he was sure that they were safe and he knew with certainty that where they were going was safe. Hannibal had spent eight years making sure of it. Even if Jack did come looking in the right place, he would be outmatched and Hannibal had a feeling that Agent Crawford would want to come to them alone.   
In the moments of gazing Hannibal was aware of how exerted Will was and did not want him to use up whatever strength he had with talking. They both felt there was no time or privacy to speak at the moment. Neither of them could say the things they wanted to say freely in the current situation.  
However, the fire inside of them was burning painfully; persistent and tumultuous. So much so that it would only grow fiercer and would consume them both before they even had a chance to rise with the flames. Their desires would merge into a catastrophic inferno if they didn’t indulge it soon. It had built up for too long.   
When Will awoke again, it was because Hannibal was shaking him gently.   
“Will, we are here.”  
Will looked around him and wondered if it was just another vivid dream. They were all still on the ship but it seemed to have come to a stop and wasn’t all ocean that surrounded them. This time, to the left of them was a huge wall of rock covered with moss and ivy.  
“Welcome to Transcendence Cove,” Chiyoh said, next to him.  
Will looked between them.   
“I don’t understand.”  
“Look up into the ivy, Will.”  
Will looked but didn’t see anything.  
“What am I supposed to be see?”  
“Safety,” said Hannibal.  
Will was used to the vague answers but looked again to try and see what Hannibal wanted him too.  
He thought he saw-something, but he wasn’t sure if it was the right something.  
“Is that a-ladder?”  
It certainly looked like a ladder hidden among the natural overgrown greenery. A wooden ladder? He wouldn’t have noticed it, but it appeared to be the only spot in the area that looked even slightly cleared as though someone had traveled it recently and trimmed away a path.  
“Yes,” said Chiyoh.  
“Take her to the hideaway,” Hannibal told Chiyoh who nodded silently.   
The doctor got up to stand on the side of his boat with considerable ease.   
Will watched him, doubting he could do it so fluidly.  
“If we can make it up this cliff side and into the forest, Will, everything will be better; easier.”  
Hannibal held out his hand to help Will up onto the edge. The latter had been right, he did not manage up onto it gracefully. They helped each other balance and Will kept feeling the urge to reach out and catch the edge of the cliff. There was only a small gap between them and the rock, but Will did not think he could chance it.   
“This is going to take a lot of energy. I fear for your shoulder. Are you ready?”  
“Yes.”  
“Then grab on, we need to get you started first.”  
Will still had so many unspoken questions but knew it was best to just trust Hannibal. He truly had nothing else to lose at this point, whether he made the reasonable choice or not, it would be the right one. Will reached out to the ladder that he could see now was actually made out of lumber and nails and masterfully put together. It didn’t appear deteriorated but was definitely not new as if it had been put there within the past six years or so.   
“Is this thing even safe, Hannibal?”  
“Perfectly.”  
Will swallowed and glanced at him. “Definitely not my idea of perfect.”  
Hannibal smirked.  
The foot and hand holds of the ladder were adequately spaced apart for someone of at least medium height, male or female. With Hannibal’s help Will managed to place one foot on the ladder. In any other situation, having Hannibal’s hands on his waist would have gave him excited chills, but in this instance they came more from panic.  
With a breath, Will reached out the other foot and gripped the ladder for life. Now with all of the pressure and weight riding on his entire body, Will felt a sharp stab of pain in his right shoulder so powerful that it brought tears to his eyes but he reminded himself, this wasn’t FBI training, this wasn’t the police academy, this was survival and he had to do this.   
“Climb Will. Take it slow. I am right below you,” said Hannibal “Breathe. Just do this together and then we can have everything we have ever wanted, Will.”  
Will didn’t speak but he knew the man felt his agreement. He blocked out everything, using all of his power to block the pain and focus on the task. Climb. Slow. Climb. Hands. Feet. One at a time.  
It didn’t take as long as Will had expected it to and in what felt like no time, shadows covered him and though there was barely enough light to see, he did not lose focus on the task not even when his arm started to shake violently. It wasn’t until his hand went to reach for another hold and he felt grass that he realized he had made it.  
Will wasted no time hoisting himself up onto the welcoming grassy shaded forest floor and turned back down to make sure Hannibal was there and help him. Will didn’t pay attention to the height nor even his surroundings. Not until he had Hannibal beside him safely.  
They made it. Hannibal had said they would be safe once they reached the top and will didn’t know why, couldn’t explain it, but he felt that. As soon as Hannibal was at his side, and they were free of the ocean, he collapsed back onto the ground, closing his eyes, and grabbed a handful of earth appreciating the solidity of it.   
The only sounds besides their breathing were the ocean, birds, trees billowing, and-was that a jet not too far away. Will’s eyes flew open. Two jets. Hannibal met his gaze and although they felt completely drained, adrenaline kicked in and pushed them to their feet. Hannibal took Will by the hand as they ran and Will soon realized that they weren’t frantically, mindlessly searching for cover, Hannibal was leading them to it.  
The sounds of the jets were coming over directly above them and Hannibal held Will still against a tree trunk by his good shoulder. Will slowly looked up and saw that there was a perfectly placed canopy of some sort above them that blended in with the trees flawlessly. It was hard to tell the difference. For all he knew, the entire forest could be made of these canopies and one might not ever have been able to tell the difference. The two men stared into each other’s eyes, frequently glancing at each other’s lips, feeling waves of impatient tension wash over them at the proximity though too cautious to move.   
Satisfied that the jet had moved on and there were no other sounds of a threat or an audible drop onto the island, Will voiced his concern.  
“They had to have found Chiyoh and the ship. They had to have captured her.”  
“Chiyoh is quite fine, Will. I assure you.”  
“But how?”  
“Hannibal.”  
Will looked over the doctor’s shoulder to see the woman of subject standing out from under the canopy carrying a gun. Will recognized it as a 7.62 mm sniper rifle; the same weapon she had shot him with years ago. He clenched his teeth remembering the phantom pain in the same shoulder he was once again injured in now. Will also saw the tip of a crossbow sticking up from a supposed harness around her back.  
“I detected no sign of any drops on the island,”Chiyoh said. “But it is a massive island.  
“I doubt there would be anyone surveying this island too closely so early on after our disappearance. Especially on the first round. It has always appeared as a mere large scrap of rock and leaf to the unobservant.”  
“We will be able to keep watch easier at the manor. Any suspicious activity sets off the new sensors there.”  
Will took the conversation in, searching for anything that would indicate where they were and what was going to happen.  
“Does she know?” Hannibal asked the woman directly as he took in their surroundings.   
Will watched him close his eyes. Dr. lecter was utilizing his extraordinary sense of smell. Remembering, storing.   
“She does not know details,”Chiyoh replied. “Only that something is coming. She doesn’t know about you. That is how I thought you wanted it.”  
“She is-very intelligent; resourceful,” Hannibal said simply. “I’m sure she knows more.”  
Will stepped away from the tree, finally, and winced feeling the full force of his injuries surge through him painfully.  
“Who is ‘she’?” He asked.  
“ Soon, everything will be understood, Will,”said Hannibal. “Right now, we need to make it there while we are still in decent shape and still have the energy.”  
Will did not know where ‘there’ was as much as he did not know who ‘she’ was but decided asking anymore questions would be useless and ill-timed so he followed Hannibal through the massive forest of towering shaded trees and curious small animals as quickly as he could with Chiyoh behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The inferno erupts ;) but not fully. Don't worry though, this fire is only starting.
> 
> Edited*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love them. I love the characters. I love the portrayals and these ideas all just come to mind when I think of them.

Chapter 4 

Will stood at the structure with a slightly gaping mouth. How the hell did the thing fit so perfectly inside the forest and on the uneven land in which it stood. It was as tall as most of the huge trees around it and how was there room for another building on the grassy hill higher and further up the path?  
“How the hell?” Will said holding onto Hannibal to give him support.  
“With much hard work and dedication,” Hannibal said as he bent slightly in his silent agony  
Will hated to see him in pain. He noticed a sharp intake of breath here and there when a movement caused him significantly more discomfort, but otherwise Hannibal have no indication that he was harmed. He needed to convince the man to lay down for further inspection. What internal damage did he have? Will knew the man was stubborn but he was a doctor and he trusted Chiyoh’s ability to mend him temporarily. He thought of demanding Hannibal into the manor right then, but he would only wait a bit longer to see what his plan was. Worry never left him. Will now Understood why he had heard them talking of a manor because that is exactly what it was; three stories high created from selected stone blocks and looked like a small section of a larger castle.  
It had been there a while for moss and ivy had claimed it too, but Will could see lights flickering out through several windows.  
“Someone lives here?” Will asked.  
“Yes,” Hannibal said.  
“Who?”  
“We do.”  
Will stared at him. “You’re kidding.”  
“Do you not approve?”  
“Wha-of course I approve.”  
“Wonderful,” said Hannibal and then acknowledged Chiyoh. “Where is she?”  
“It is still considered night,” said Chiyoh. “She is in the playhouse.”  
Hannibal looked toward the large similar formation on the hill that Will had been curious about. Lights were on up there as well and he could also now hear upbeat music coming from it.  
“Playhouse?” Will asked.  
“All will be explained, Will,” Hannibal said. “Trust me.” That word again; trust. Will did not fear it from him anymore and he briefly thought about all they had been through. “ Your imagination will run wild in the mean time, I know,” Hannibal said, his lips turning up gently in praise. “I’ll keep watch, out here,” Chiyoh said.  
Will noticed a hint of distaste through her usual expressionless venom.  
“Please ensure everything is in order around the grounds.”  
Chiyoh nodded and neither man spoke until Hannibal lead them straight to the door.  
“Come,” said Hannibal. “There are a few last tasks we must complete before rest.”  
Will ached for rest and felt longing take hold of him at the mention. He wanted to ask Hannibal if it could wait, if he would try and find away to heal, but he knew the answer would be a polite insistent, ‘no’.  
Instead he asked, “What are they?”  
“First, I need to check on our injuries. That climb and run did not help either of us and here I’ll have proper supplies.”  
“And the second?”  
“You need to meet someone.”  
“She?” Will smiled weakly.  
“She.”  
\-------------------------------------------------  
The mansion was extremely ethereal on the inside. The very walls themselves were art. Will felt as if he were walking into the home of some ancient god. It was oddly bright and open, at least from the foyer and had the utmost clandestine atmosphere of a place that he had ever stepped foot in. It was quiet, like the huge stone door blocked out every sound from the outside.  
The entrance hall was immediately soothing with it’s warmth and smelled of herb and a sweet scent like fresh flowers or a tobacco or candles or maybe it was a garden. There were paintings on the walls featuring masterpieces that Will could never recognize. They were so beautiful; everything was. Light and medium shades of blue colored the walls and gold and silver lined every door frame and picture frame. There was a small mural on the north wall of what appeared to be child angels.  
A grand staircase climbed before them and branched off to what appeared to be only two halls, a left and a right, but Will was positive that those branched off into their own rooms like a huge pair of lungs.  
Down at their level, there were two doors immediately at either side of them and along the same sides and length of further beneath the staircase were two more.  
It was definitely a home that was more than fit for a king; or hell, one hundred kings.  
“Hannibal? Is that…real gold lining the doorways.”  
The doctor smiled down at Will, a genuine open mouthed smile. Will couldn’t remember the last time he saw it and even if it was today, it was too long ago.  
“There will be plenty of time to explore once you’ve settled in and are familiar with everything, now, I must insist on keeping us together in one piece.”  
Hannibal walked to his left and opened the silver plated door there guiding Will by his lower back into the room. There was a bedside lamp on the small table allowing Will to see that it was a bedroom, a bedroom totally in a different décor. This one looked very sultry with dark purples and reds. There were two candelabras lining the walls and a large four-poster bed dressed in deep violet satin bedding was the center of attention. It had the same royal vibe as what he had seen of the mansion so far.  
“Please, make yourself comfortable and lay back on the bed while I retrieve supplies from my office.”  
“Supplies? A bed?” said Will giving a smile. He removed his coat and placed it on a small sofa at the end of the bed. “What exactly does this treatment consist of doctor?”  
Hannibal smirked but he didn’t move. He waited for Will to do as he had asked and lit a candle with a lighter from the drawer for added light. It kept the room dim enough, even though Will noticed there was an overhead light. Hannibal had completely ignored the switch. This allowed the room to maintain a relaxing atmosphere. When the other man was satisfied, he nodded to him.  
“It depends on the patient, I suppose.”  
Will raised an eyebrow and watched him leave, realizing in that moment that it was a sight he already hated. Had they not spent enough time apart already?  
In the meantime, Will ran his hands over the satin bed spread and imagined that it had cost twice the price of his entire property of Wolf Trap.  
A pang hit his gut with the thought of home but he quickly reminded himself of his intentions to return To Wolf Trap somehow soon and reclaim it soon and now his plan included convincing Hannibal to settle back in with him. He really had no idea how it was going to happen but it is all he wanted, to build onto his home there to satisfy the both of them. it was still his home. Jack had kept it safe, it was secretly part of his deal with him for going after the dragon. Even being with Molly and Walter was no home, he didn’t know what it was but it was more like a shared apartment and companionship for him and his dogs.  
Oh, his dogs. Tears pushed through the surface. He would have them all back, maybe new ones as well with him, it was a done deal. For now, he would use this time, this place with Hannibal to mend and learn more about him and figure out a plan for this. Just then, the devil himself appeared and Will instantly shut that train of thought down. He did not want his Ripper to believe he was regretting anything. Will watched him close the door behind him. Hmmm, privacy from Chiyoh if she came in the manor after all? She had already seen him that way.  
The doctor sat on the bed next to Will and laid his case on a pulled out chair from the desk. He also had two shot glasses and a half bottle of whiskey. Did the man just have these medical cases everywhere?  
Will watched him work. Hannibal poured Will a glass who downed it in an instant gratefully as soon as it was handed to him.  
“God, I needed that.”  
“I thought you may be appreciative of the gesture.”  
“ Another?”  
“Not just yet, I need you to be able to walk shortly,” Hannibal joked.  
“You think I’m that much of a lightweight?”  
“Certainly,” Hannibal replied with another smirk, leaned forward, and propped his knee up on the bed so he could grasp the hem of Will’s sweater gently.  
Will stopped breathing for a moment and gazed at him. It truly hit him just then regardless of the lighthearted comment he had made moments ago. The two of them were alone. They were seated on a bed and they were only inches apart. This was literally one of Will’s dreams unfolding into reality. He hated that Hannibal would be so serious with him right now despite Will’s acknowledgment of the necessity in it.  
He wanted to be touched. He was in pain and he was exhausted, but given the opportunity, he would give every last bit of himself to a moment of intense, needed passion. His pulse fluttered as Hannibal’s fingers grazed his skin  
“We need to take these off again. It is much warmer in here. br /> Will didn’t say anything for fear that he’d express some indication of his thoughts and the rushing of blood south.  
Together they relieved Will of his sweater and t-shirt. Hannibal gently pressed against his companion’s chest to encourage him to lay back. With the new position, Hannibal had to rise to both knees in order to get a clear view and access to Will’s shoulder and cheek stitching. The doctor carefully removed the soiled bandaging from both areas.  
Will knew his heart was giving him away. He just kept imagining Hannibal kissing him, touching him. He didn’t believe the man would care how bloody He was.  
Hannibal raised an eyebrow in apparent surprise as he lightly dripped antiseptic over both of his previous pieces of workmanship.  
“You have remarkably managed to reach this point without tearing one stitch. Either I am just that brilliant or your body is even more accustomed to tearing and wounding than I thought.”  
Will voiced a sound of approval, perhaps a little nervous. He was so touch starved; majorly so that this proximity released even more than a sexual desire. It was an intimate desire, a desire to be embraced and taken care of.  
Hannibal withdrew just enough to read the man’s features.  
“I merely only need to replace the bandaging,” he said and then paused. “Is there something troubling you, Will?”  
Will cleared his throat and gave a breathy exhale looking away.  
“I-,” he tried. What was he supposed to say? How about most of the truth? “I’m worried about your bullet wound. If I’m okay, then we need to check yours. Do you have any idea of the damage done?”  
Hannibal unwrapped bandaging in sterile packaging as he talked. He dabbed at the stitches before starting to cover them.  
“Yes, from Chiyoh’s examination and my own, it is indicated that the bullet made a relatively simple intrusion in between the large and small intestine, creating a minuscule opening in each one. The Erector Spinae muscle was of course penetrated.”  
Penetration; that word, Will thought. But wait...  
"Hannibal, you're bleeding internally! We have to do something more than stitch you from the outside, we can't go to a hospital-please-." “The damage makes it difficult to move and Chiyoh attended to repairs internally, yes, but it is relatively minor all things considered, I know what to do, Will, ” Hannibal said.  
“I’m glad he missed your ribs. He was a good shot; very practiced.”  
“That he was,” Hannibal replied while collecting his supplies back up and securing them. “You and I were just the better shots.”  
Will gave a smile that started to fade as soon as he saw Hannibal start to get up and hand Will his clothes back.  
Will caught his arm.  
“Hannibal…”  
The other man halted his actions and gave Will his full attention.  
“I will take care of myself in a while,” Hannibal began. “I assure you-.”  
Will raised up from the pillows and tugged Hannibal’s forearm gently to him glancing down at his lips and then back up to his eyes. Hannibal relaxed and let Will show him what he wanted. He could see the lust and a hint of something else in his eyes; impulsiveness and craving. They looked black because of the pupil dilation, black with a circle of divine blue and Hannibal fought to deny his own screaming impatience.  
The younger man stroked his thumb over Hannibal’s cheekbone. His inhales quickened and with a few more tentative glances, Will could wait no longer.  
He kissed Hannibal as if it were their first, as if he were dying, as if they were about to take the plunge again and feared more so that they might not make it. His movements were slow at first; hard and savoring. He poured his heart into the man this way.  
Will didn’t care that his own body was hurt and tired and tried to mind Hannibal’s wound, but all at once he leaned back into the headboard and brought his hands to raise up the man’s layers around his torso but his hands got lost in a tangle of limbs. He refused to break away for anything other than oxygen.  
Neither of them spoke for a while and Hannibal let Will lead him into a straddle upon his thighs. They explored one another’s tongues more leisurely this time and teeth claimed throats. Moving lower beneath the mouth was too much of a temptation not to take advantage of and suddenly Hannibal lost care and hesitation that was due to it really not being the right time for these activities but and didn’t stop traveling downward.  
The Ripper took advantage of Will’s exposed flesh and tried to imprint every lean inch of him onto his tongue. Will needed this, the reassurance of it. This brilliant, unique man had enraptured him from the very first sight. They had spent so many moments together over the years, but they were all so far away and now they both were willing to destroy any and all barriers between them.  
Were they really finally doing this? No, only a small fraction of what they would’ve doing to each other in glorious endless time.   
In the front of Will’s mind, he also knew this wasn’t the time. However, the building inferno he had felt for five years, two before Hannibal's capture, had engulfed his world; his every free thought. He could do something about it now.  
They both had been so patient and Hannibal knew that their was more to accomplish before the night was done, but he thought in this moment that if he stopped what was happening, he may die.  
Hannibal licked each of Will’s nipple into a peak before biting into his rib muscles. It made the man arch into soft satin and release a huge smile.  
Will brought a hand to Hannibal’s disheveled hair of perfection and felt a flash of worry. His organs were pierced. Internal bleeding.  
“Hanni-.”

But sensing the man’s hesitation, Hannibal sucked the soft skin below Will’s belly button and he looked up to see the man’s eyes close with a look of pure arousal spreading across his gorgeous features as he took quick breaths. He looked down at Hannibal and released a low moan, seeing him there at his groin, expertly undoing his belt buckle.  
Will knew the sounds he made at first would be embarrassing but it was something he was going to have to face. He had never really been vocal around the woman he’d slept with in an attempt to maintain masculinity, but in all truth, Will felt too much from touch that it was torture trying to conceal his expressions.  
He moaned louder when Hannibal slipped his pants and underwear down over his hips and sensitive erection. Will felt Hannibal’s warm breath on his pulsing flesh and watched the man admire him. He actually cared that he was a bit above average size right now; for once.   
“ You are so enticingly, maddeningly perfect in every aspect and version of the word, Will.” God, what Will wouldn’t give to look upon him the same way. Will feared that if he moved, he would ruin the moment. It was something that he had feared through his whole relationship with Hannibal.  
Without more hesitation and so very slow, Hannibal sank his lips down Will’s shaft. The groan was a little high pitched Will thought, but he could care less and from Hannibal’s up and down pressured strokes of tongue, neither did he.  
Will played with a stray strand of Hannibal’s hair and laid his head fully back on the pillow giving himself over to the stimulation of being sucked and lovingly stroked. The sounds Will made were unfamiliar to himself and the serenade Hannibal’s mouth performed was the most erotic thing he had ever heard  
“You taste divine, mon amour,” Hannibal soothed. “There will never be anything I will ever hunger for more than you, exactly like this.”  
“To see you give yourself over to me is the most addicting exhibition I have ever witnessed,” Hannibal continued before swirling his tongue around Will’s tip with firm strokes.  
Will felt pleasure like he had never before. He could never have anything to ever compare this to. It was his only desired drug, a lifeline that he already knew and the pressure building inside him was demanding and persistent. He murmured something that even he didn’t understand and started to give out continuous moans like some obscene film and he knew he could not hold on much longer.  
Hannibal grasped Will’s erection and delivered careful flicks as he queezed his hand up and down the slick rigidity.  
“I will have all of you, Will; every last drop and every last inch of you, from this day forth.”  
In an explosion of fire and sparks and stars, Will came with a shattering orgasm.  
Hannibal drank him down, swallowing every bit of his essense and more. He released Will before he could grow too sensitive. He knew he was going to have to let the beautiful man recover before the next phase of their night, but he hoped he had not completely spent the empath’s energies.  
Hannibal got his answer as he felt strong hands pull him upward by his shoulders and drown him into a blissful all-consuming kiss.  
“God, that was-you’re so...how have I survived this long without feeling you this close?” Will fumbled desperately at Hannibal’s belt and Hannibal could not fight his deep groan from escaping into the other man’s mouth.  
“Will-.”  
“I need to touch you Hannibal,” Will cut him off. He oddly enjoyed the taste of himself on his companion's tongue.  
Hannibal rested his forehead on Will’s and released another tortured growl and buried his lips into the man’s curls, inhaling his scent as his bulge was relieved of the confines of the restrictions above it.  
But ,suddenly, Will stilled when he raised his hands along Hannibal’s abdomen.  
“Fuck! Hannibal, you’re bleeding.”  
“I know,” Hannibal smirked and actually laughed. “But I was enjoying watching you try to undress me.”  
“Christ! “Why didn’t you tell me!”  
“I wanted y-.”  
“ Tell me what to do!” Willsaid as he struggled to check out the wound even more.  
“Help me to the playhouse.”  
“That can wait! You-.”  
“Will, what I need is in the playhouse.”  
“I don’t understand,” Will said getting off the bed but obeying and pulling his clothes back on, “What is it that you need?”  
“Surgery.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those of few of you who have stuck with me this long♥️ I just wanted to share a piece of Hannigram obsessing with you.  
> I’m also working on another that takes place during season 2, but that will probably be one chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is 'she'? This is a super short chapter, but I had fun writing it and wanted to include it. It is from another perspective, but stick around, it all fits. 
> 
> These ideas sort of kept coming as I was listening to a mixed playlist at work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These ideas kept creeping up as I was listening to a mixed playlist while working.  
> I’m writing as they come, but it is going to continue for a while. Hopefully, I can also give someone else out there a fic they’ve been waiting for.

Chapter 5  
“Please, madam, may I pick the next song?”  
“You picked the first one.”  
“Quiet, Mr. Lance,” said a firm but youthful voice. “Yes, you may choose, but only if I approve.”  
Several young adult men and women stood inside large slow- swinging caged platforms like those found in certain strip clubs. The platforms hung securely from the ceiling of the play room in the playhouse. The playhouse had plenty of rooms, but three main rooms were the most used: the playroom, the production room, and the hunting arena.  
The master of these people hanging from the ceiling unlocked the cage of the girl so she could step down and choose her track from the stereo.  
“That is an acceptable choice, Ms. Thompson.”  
When the song began to fill up the room, the girl obediently returned to her cage to be locked back in.  
We paint white roses red, each shade from a different person’s head this dream, dream is a killer…  
All of the master’s puppets began to sway in their cages and broke into grins as they held onto the bars and danced. Their master went around to each of them with an offering of another delicious purple candy.  
I’m peeling the skin off my face. ‘Cause I really hate being safe. The normals, they make me afraid, the crazies, they make me feel sane…  
The master pulled down a lever slowly from the wall beside her and watched as the bars of each metal cage folded down around the puppets neatly and they acclimated to their new positions now holding on to the only two bars that remained.  
…You like me best when I’m off my rocker…  
The master carefully stepped to the center of the room underneath the cages and pulled another lever on the floor. Sharp metal rods attached to the left side of each cage shot out and pierced through the puppets simultaneously.  
‘Just like needles in a voodoo doll’, she thought.  
The bars locked in place horizontally to the right side of the cage and the floor dropped out swinging below the feet of the impaled.  
All the best people are crazy, all the best people are.  
As if standing in the rain, the master held her arms out to embrace the crimson waterfall, her tongue caught rivulets of copper glory and she brushed her hair back coating it in the liquid; embracing the heat. The experience was all-consuming. Well it ordinarily was and would have continued to be if a certain scent hadn’t permeated the air and caught her attention through the blood and music.  
The master’s heart clenched and her stomach constricted with recognition. She opened her eyes and turned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that I quoted in this chapter is called, “ Mad Hatter,” by Melanie Martinez. All credit for it goes to her.   
> A lot of fannnibals know it, but if you don’t go check it out. I really like it. It gets stuck in your head. It’s not typically my kind of thing, but I came across it, was thinking about this story, and came up with this character.  
> She’s different, but I think you’ll like her. She blends in well with the canon atmosphere in my opinion.  
> Another chapter soon! Thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> I seriously just love these two and the universe that this whole series takes place in. I have respect for all characters and actors. 
> 
> Fannibal always


End file.
